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Legio Perennia
The Legio Perennia is one of the younger Titan Legions of the Collegia Titanica, the strongest and most prestigious military arms of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Founded during the glorious years of the Great Crusade which dramatically ended in the earliest 31st Millennium, the Legio's original homeworld was the bustling Forge World of Bronta-Median, located in the relative vicinity of the Segmentum Solar. Founded with great pomp and circumstance at the Gallileon temple-forge, a scant few decades before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the Legio's first deployment would prove -- to its eternal shame -- a total disaster. This perhaps, explains the absence of solid historical data about the Legio in contemporary Imperial records. With very little information available, it is unknown if the Legio still carries its founding name or has indeed been renamed in the wake of the terrible events of the Harrowing of Callistra Mundi. Legion History The Legio Perennia’s history is largely unknown and reliable information on the subject must be considered carefully. What is known is that the Legion was founded on Bronta-Mendian, in the Galileon temple-forge. The exact date and circumstance of this founding have been lost to time, but must have occurred only a scant few decades before the outbreak of the disastrous civil war known as the Horus Heresy. Its location on the Dextura shipping lane -- a well-traveled connection to the Segmentum Solar and especially the Sol System -- meant that Bronta-Median and the Legio Perennia had always been close to Imperial power, and were thus utterly loyal to the Emperor of Mankind. Following the Dropsite Massacre and the Schism of Mars, the ruler of Bronta-Median, the Fabricator Ancillarum Gaius Trasq, swiftly declared for the Emperor and was amongst the very first to recognize the authority of Fabricator-General Kane over the arch-traitor Kelbor-Hal. With Terra making call-to-arms against the Traitor Warmaster and his allies, Gaius Trasq complied and despatched a full Battlegroup of the Legio Perennia to Terra. Battlegroup Astramax, as it was baptized, had only been recently commissioned and according to some sources, constituted almost the entire military strength of the Legio Perennia. Embarking upon the ark-freighter Omnissiax, the Battlegroup set out for the two-months voyage that would bring it to Terra, to stand in defence of the Imperial Palace or quite possibly participate in the reconquest of Mars. It is important to note that at the beginning of these events, the Legio Perennia was by all means a Loyalist Titan Legion, yet soon afterwards, its name would be cursed by those faithful to the Emperor that would die under its guns. Unknown to the Loyalist Mechanicum on Bronta-Median, the Omnissiax’s crew had been infiltrated by agents of the Traitors affiliated to the Alpha Legion. Worse yet, one of these infiltrators had clandestinely smuggled a full demi-cohort of fifty Traitor legionaries aboard the Omnissiax, hiding amongst the newly produced suits of Mark IV "Maximus" pattern Power Armour fresh minted from Bronta-Median's forges and production lines. When the Omnissiax received orders from Fabricator-General Kane to divert course to Callistra Mundi, an important world in the Gnostica System on which rebellion had erupted, the infiltration teams quickly disabled the Omnissiax’s means of communication and attempted to seize the ship. The numerical superiority of the Mechanicum forces proved insufficient to eliminate the Alpha Legion, as the Arkmaster settled for a stalemate which would eventually be resolved when loyalist reinforcements could be brought aboard from Callistra Mundi or the Omnissiax’s escort, the Mechanicum Light Cruiser, Dentilicon. To break this stalemate which would have undeniable turned in the Loyalists' favour, the leader of the Alpha Legion, Strike Commander Dartarion Varix, ordered the Titans of Legio Perennia, crewed by his own Princeps and Moderatii -- which had also been smuggled aboard. Having gained control of Abyssus Edax, the Traitor Princeps Darieux turned the Titan's Gatling Blaster and Quake Cannon against highlighted positions of the Mechanicum, firing directly from the main hangar with Abyssus Edax still secured by its holding clamps. The Titan's firepower gutted the Omnissiax from within, annihilating the Loyalist Thallaxi and Castellax that were holding the Alpha Legion at bay and opening a way for the scions of the XXth Legion to storm the ark-freighter's bridge. Once in command of the ship itself, Varix ordered the Omnissiax’s guns turned against the Dentilicon which had approached to inquire what was the delay that had forced the Omnissiax to slow down and fail to power up its void-shields. With the last threat to his plan removed, the ship continued its voyage to Callistra Mundi to participate in the Harrowing ordered by Harrowmaster Armillus Dynat. Notable Campaigns * The Capture of the Omnissiax (Unknown Date. M31) - The Omnissiax was a super-heavy ark-freighter registered out of the Heliodyne shipyards which had been charged of transporting Battle Group Astramax of the Legio Perennia to Terra. As revolts and open rebellion manifested themselves throughout the Imperium, the Omnissiax and its fearful cargo were rerouted to the world of Callistra Mundi to support local forces against the rebels. Unknown to the master of the Omnissiax or his Mechanicum overlords, the Alpha Legion had infiltrated the ark-freighter, fifty of their most apt Legionaries masquerading as empty suits of power armour, life signs reduced to a minimum as not to be discovered. When a sparatoi agent of the Legion awakened them, the Alpha Legion rose from their self-induced coma and began to take over the ship. Other agents of the XXth Legion had thus far disabled the Omnissiax means of communication, be they technological or astropathic. Through the use of armour-penetrating Banestrike-ammunition, even the most heavily armoured battle-automata were no match against the Alpha Legion. The Legionaries purposefully set fire to crew-quarters as to scramble enemy auspexes and sneak up on Mechanicum forces, even killing the Magos Dominus in charge of the ship’s security early on in the battle. But as numerical superiority began to tell, both Alpha Legion and Mechanicum settled for a stalemate, which the Mechanicum hoped to break with reinforcements from Callistra Mundi. However, the Alpha Legion had their own continuity plan: take control of the Titans in the cargo-hold and use its devastating firepower to destroy the Mechanicum forces. Thanks to their own Titan-crew which had also been smuggled onboard the Omnissiax, the Alpha Legion succeeded in seizing the Omniassiax. But the Omnissiax carried other precious goods beside the already powerful Titan Battle Group: a complement of siege engines for the Ordo Reductor, two hundred battle tanks and transports of various designs and five hundred suits of Mark IV power armour, which all fell into Alpha Legion hands. * The Harrowing of Callistra Mundi (Unknown Date. M31) - Battle Group Astramax - now fighting in the name of the Alpha Legion and the Warmaster - would soon be unleashed on Callistra Mundus, surprising local Loyalist forces and opening fire on those same forces that hoped to welcome them as allies. Notable Titans *''Abyssus Edax'' (''Warmonger''-class Titan) - Like the remaining god-engines of Battle Group Astramax, the Abyssus Edax had been newly commissioned and had never seen battle before. Armed with Galting Blasters and the fearsome Quake Cannon, Abyssus Edax was capable of leveling entire city blocks. As lead-engine of Battle Group Astramax, the Abyssus Edax was the main focus of the traitor Alpha Legion’s efforts. Crewed with an Alpha Legion-loyal crew, Abyssus Edax would be used with devastating effects by the Traitors to crush the Mechanicum resistance aboard the Omnissiax, firing Abyssus Edax’s weapons inside the ship -- a premier in known Imperial history. Notable Personnel *'Alvar Pallidon' - Princeps Majoris of Abyssus Edax and overall commander of Battle Group Astramax before its seizure by Alpha Legion forces. Ultimate fate unknown. Legion Appearance Legion Colours The Legio Perennia's colours are not listed in current Imperial records. Legion Badge The badge of the Legio Perennia is not listed in current Imperial records. Sources *''Sedition's Gate'' (Anthology), "The Harrowing" by Rob Sanders Category:L Category:Adeptus Mechanicus Category:Collegia Titanica Category:History Category:Imperial History Category:Imperial Walkers Category:Imperium Category:Walkers